CISPA & Facebook Spies from SAVE THE INTERNET / FREE PRESS 20APR12

MORE than one million e mails to Congress opposing cispa, that is impressive. The vote is next week, click the link to sign up for alerts so you can call your Representative once the vote schedule is announced.

Dear Craig, This week, more than a million people sent letters urging Congress to say "NO" to CISPA — the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR 3523) — which could give the government unchecked power to spy on us online. Another 100,000 people tweeted this message to their member of Congress. The sponsors of the bill are feeling the pressure, but our work is far from over. Next week the House of Representatives will vote on CISPA. Once we find out the timing of the vote, we'll need to quickly generate thousands of calls to Congress to stop CISPA in its tracks. Can we count on you when the moment arrives? Here’s how you can help: Take the CISPA pledge. Click here to pledge to call your representative when the time comes. We’ll follow up as soon as we know more about the vote. Forward this email to 5 friends. Get them to take the CISPA pledge, too. Please take the pledge to make the call. We’ll be back in touch when it’s time to light up the phones. Thanks for helping to protect our right to communicate online. —Josh, Tessa, Tim and the Free Press Action Fund team. P.S. CISPA is the latest threat to Internet freedom, but it's far from the last. Donate $10 today to help the Free Press Action Fund fight for our online rights for the long haul.

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Learn more at www.freepress.net. Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Keep Super PACs off PBS 12APR12

NPR and PBS have a long standing policy of no political ads and no commercials (though in the past few years program sponsors have been allowed short general infomercials about their companies, this brought about by decreased funding by the federal govt for the CPB, Corporation for Public Broadcasting). The recent court ruling removing the ban on political ads on PBS and NPR doesn't mandate that these broadcasters accept political ads from anyone, just that it is now possible to run political ads on public broadcasting radio and TV. Please join in calling on NPR and PBS to reject all Super PAC and in fact all political ads, and then, if you can go to their websites and make a donation, any amount will help, to keep their free and fair.

Take Action: No Super PACs on PBS! “Sesame Street,” brought to you by Mitt Romney. Up next: “Downton Abbey,” but first, a word from Obama’s Super PAC. We’re not kidding! Moments ago a U.S. appeals court struck down a ban on political ads on public broadcasting stations. That means your local PBS or NPR station could start running nasty attack ads right away.1 Tell PBS and NPR: No Attack Ads! The court said that permitting these sorts of ads would not threaten or undermine the educational nature of public broadcast stations. But polluting public programming with misleading and negative ads is not in keeping with the original vision of noncommercial broadcasting. And it’s certainly not the solution to funding public media. Many Americans turn to public TV or radio to escape the offensive political ads that have flooded commercial stations. Please join us and tell the leadership of PBS and NPR stations that they must reject political ads: Act Now: Political Attack Ads Have No Place on Public Media An overwhelming majority of Americans say public funding for public media is money well spent. PBS and NPR and their member stations should know that accepting political ads is not the solution to public broadcasting’s funding problems. We need to invest in public media, not open it up to dirty Super PAC money. Take action now and then forward this email to your friends. Thanks, Candace, Josh, Craig, Tim and the Free Press team P.S. Like our work? The Free Press Action Fund is powered by donations from people like you. We don’t take a single cent from business, government or political parties. Please keep us going strong with a gift of $10 — or more — today. Thank you! 1. “U.S. ban on political ads on public TV struck down,” Reuters, April 12, 2012: http://act2.freepress.net/go/9700?akid=3445.9767049.ENUf9m&t=10

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Learn more at www.freepress.net. Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

STAND UP FOR PUBLIC MEDIA; CONGRESS VS, NPR 11JAN11

NPR (NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO) AND CPB (CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING) are the Voice of America for and to the American people. If we allow Congress to eliminate their funding because some don't agree with their programming (and I don't always agree with it) we will all suffer from the ensuing darkness.....click the header or links to sign the petition to protect NPR and CPB funding.......

Take Action Now New Congress. Same old politics. Last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) introduced legislation that would slash all funding for NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Other politicians are now mounting similar attacks against the news, arts and educational programming on which millions of Americans rely. Given the new Congress, this legislation could gain traction. So we're firing up a long-term strategy to protect public media. Your action today is the first step. Tell Congress: Don't Take Public Media from the Public It’s disgraceful when leaders of the "People’s House" attempt to silence what the public says, in poll after poll, are their most trusted sources of news. Whether you rely on public media for Morning Edition or for Sesame Street, tell Congress that you're outraged by these cynical political attacks. We have a plan to beat back this effort to silence public media, starting today. First, we need you to join this mass action. Next, we need you to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. After signing your letter to Congress, we’ll take you to a page to help you contact friends and colleagues. Next week, we’ll launch an online call-in campaign to get every member of Congress on the record regarding his or her support of public broadcasting.     By joining this push, you're putting all 535 members of Congress on notice: They can't play politics with public media. Take Action: Protect Public Media Today We're not just playing defense. Free Press is leading a national campaign to build a world-class public media system capable of providing what commercial media outlets don't: hard-hitting, fearless journalism; and exceptional arts and educational programs. Please take action now. Thank you, Josh Stearns   Associate Program Director   Free Press Action Fund www.freepress.net P.S. The United States has one of the lowest-funded public media systems in the developed world. The federal government allocates a paltry $1.43 per person each year to maintain the system, compared to more than 70 times that amount in Finland and nearly 80 times that amount in Denmark.

Free Press Action Fund is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Learn more at www.freepress.net